PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Reality television star Richard Hatch has been released from a Rhode Island prison after serving a nine-month sentence for failing to pay back taxes.

A state prison official says the winner of the first season of the CBS reality show "Survivor" was released Monday.

Hatch served six weeks at a state minimum-security facility as a transition after spending most of his sentence in federal prison. The Newport resident had spent more than three years in prison for not paying taxes on his $1 million "Survivor" winnings. He was released in 2009 and ordered to refile his 2000 and 2001 taxes and pay what he owed.

The 50-year-old went back to prison in March for violating the terms of his supervised release by failing to settle his tax bill.

Hatch had claimed he was "financially destitute."

(Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)